BACKGROUND: Last year, Nestor Miranda and Jason Wood visited Burns Tobacconist as part of the launch tour for the new Nestor Miranda Collection. While they were there, Burns owner, Mike Hunter, spoke with them about creating a new cigar exclusively for Burns. He told them he loved the Cien Años blend from La Aurora and that he would love to work on a special size as a store exclusive.

A few weeks later Jason went to the La Aurora factory and talked to factory manager Manuel Inoa about it. Manual liked the idea of something new, but wanted to make it even more unique and rare. After getting a blessing from La Aurora owner, Guillermo Leon, he began work on a version of the Cien Años using a completely different wrapper leaf. Manuel used a Cameroon leaf, which has always been a favorite of La Aurora. Everybody loved the blend and in short order, the La Aurora 100 Años Burns Edition Cameroon was born.

Like the original Cien Años release, this cigar uses a Dominican filler and binder blend, but adds a spicy Cameroon wrapper leaf. The Cien Años Burns edition 7″ x 40 ring gauge Lancero is sold in boxes of 25 sticks and they are available for $11.99 each in the store.

TASTING NOTES: When viewed in natural sunlight, this Cameroon wrapper is a beautiful shade of golden brown. But make no mistake, Cameroon wrappers can come in a wide variety of colors from dark chocolate brown to milk chocolate, to even a pale yellowish tinge.

Cameroon typically has a grainy texture that can range from fine 200-grit sandpaper to a more apparent “toothy” stippling. The Burns lancero was very fine in texture and was in all ways a beautiful leaf.

Now to my flavor notes… Out of the gate, this lancero was a pepper-bomb. On the palate I noted some black pepper and some spicy red chili pepper. On the retrohale I noticed searing white pepper spice. Other noticeable flavors included spicy cedar, vanilla and medium-roast coffee.

After about the first inch, the cigar started drawing hollow, which always tells me there is a tunnel in the filler. And, sure enough, when I tapped off, there was a tunnel smack dab in the middle of the bunch. Unfortunately, it doesn’t take a very big tunnel in a 40 ring cigar to negatively affect the draw and burn. So, as I continued to smoke, I left the ash grow for the next inch or so to protect the tunnel from getting too much oxygen and worsening. The good news was that the tunnel was short-lived and when I burned past it I was back in business.

FINAL THOUGHTS: During the second half, the cigar remained spicy, but was not quite as intense. This allowed me to pick up more nuance and complexity and kept the flavor profile interesting right down to the nub. This cigar weighed in at medium to full in body, flavor and strength and, as such, I would recommend it for more experienced palates.

Overall, this was a great smoke and an excellent addition to the La Aurora, and now Burns, portfolio. The Cien Años Burns Edition Lancero is fairly priced and I think you should pick up a few before they’re all gone. In my opinion, these cigars should have good aging potential and I think they will age successfully over the first 3-5 years.

Final verdict: Buy and enjoy and hold some back for further aging.

~Doc